Liberty Sells Office, Industrial, Flex Properties Across States

Liberty Property Trust announced it has entered into an agreement to sell 97 properties totaling 6.6 million square feet of space and 159 acres of land for approximately $705 million. The deal includes the company’s Jacksonville holdings, a portfolio of 32 properties that total more than 2.1 million square feet.

Liberty Property Trust has sold office properties located in Maryland, Southern New Jersey and the Fort Washington submarket of Philadelphia.

Jacksonville is the only market Liberty is exiting entirely, and the properties sold also include some flex properties in Minnesota. In total, the sale includes 4 million square feet of office space, 2.3 million square feet of flex properties and 274,000 square feet of industrial properties. The sales are expected to close progressively, starting in late December. The name of the buyer has not been made public

William P. Hankowsky, CEO of Liberty, says the idea behind the transaction is to concentrate the company’s office portfolio in fewer markets and to extend it portfolio allocation to industrial real estate. “We expect these steps to enhance our ability to exploit our expertise in creating and managing high-quality office environments in which we can create significant future value,” he said in a statement for the press.

Liberty is a $7.3 billion REIT founded in 1972 that develops, acquires, leases and manages office and industrial properties. At the end of Q2, the firm enjoyed the ownership of 80.6 million square feet of developed space in more than 21 markets throughout U.S. and the United Kingdom.

The Jacksonville portfolio sold includes numerous Class A office and Class B industrial properties such as Butler Plaza and Liberty Business Park. Most of the properties are located in the Southside near the intersection of J. Turner Butler Boulevard and Interstate 95, but the firm also owns about 120 acres along Imeson Road, West Jacksonville.